This picture was taken at Sammy's Birthday the end of AprilDear Friends and Family,
Housing Situation
We had asked for you to pray for wisdom on whether we should buy a home or rent. Well, the Lord has answered our prayers in that regard, because, even though we haven't made a decision yet, the Lord has opened the doors for us to receive a personal loan from the United States with a very good interest rate.
This last trip interior revealed two houses we had never seen before. One was for sale and is something we could buy and then move into with minimal work to make it live-able for us. The drawback with this home is that it's on the opposite side of town from where we were thinking about being an ideal place for starting a ministry. So we're praying for the Lord's direction in that regard.
The other home is a rental in the part of town we were wanting to live in. Todd and the three others who went on the trip weren't able to see the inside of the home because the owner hadn't received the key yet from the previous renter, but it looked from the outside like a good possibility for rent.
There is one other home that we have seen each trip interior, and it is a rental that is unfinished yet. It also has a serious safety problem with the staircase (building two story homes is a new thing here and not everyone has figured out the best way to build staircases). If we could talk to the owner (who lives in Rio de Janeiro), and find out if he'd be willing to let us buy it for the right price, then perhaps we could fix the problems. Everything else about the house is what we're looking for, except for fixing the bathroom to American standards. But that's to be expected in any home we would live in.
On our previous trip interior, we had found a house that was in the perfect part of town for ministry. This home was facing the city's main square, across the street from the hospital (lots of ministry opportunities there) and very close to the public schools and government buildings. We knew the house had some problems and would need quite a bit of work in order to live in it. That's one reason why Todd asked our co-worker who understands more about Brazilian construction to help us know if it was feasible. But when Ivan saw it, he was very discouraged because it would require a completely new roof including the wood, the walls don't look strong and look water damaged, and so on. So the Lord closed the door on that house.
We will be pursuing more information on the two rentals and then we feel like we should be making a decision very soon. We would really like to be moved into the city by July, but we are depending on the Lord to show us His perfect timing.
Other Prayer Requests
We would also like to ask prayer for selling our car. We were able to buy a pickup truck that will be better for the bad roads interior, but haven't been able to sell the car yet. Please pray for that to happen quickly.
Michaela is in the final stretch with school. With all our interruptions lately we got off schedule, but she should be done in two weeks. She's done with some subjects and only has a little left to do in the others. I retrieved Sammy's kindergarten books and some others arrived with a intern that came down, and I showed his kindergarten books to him. He is so excited to be able to start school that he keeps asking how many days until he can do school in his new books. We're planning to start after our mission team comes to Brazil in August.
That's another prayer request is for our preparations and the preparations of those coming on the mission trip. There are six coming down the beginning of August from Dardenne Presbyterian Church in the St. Louis Area to work on water purification project and children's programs. Two of them are Todd's parents. We are so excited and we would ask for you pray that they will really enjoy their time here.
Another enormous praise has nothing to do with missions, but everything to do with God's protection. Last night Michaela and Sammy friends came over to spend the night--they are a sibling group of three. The kids had been playing in the sandbox and then were told to go upstairs to take showers. I had just finished giving the boys their showers and walked into the other bathroom where the girls were getting in the shower. I was putting their towels on the sink when Johanna, Michaela's friend, closed the glass shower door and the whole thing shattered. Michaela was not in the middle of it, but it shattered all around Johannah who got two cuts requiring stitches in her hand and one in her foot. There was so much glass everywhere and blood, but the Lord spared Johannah and Michaela from anything worse than that. The men cleaned out at least four bucketfuls of glass shards out of the bathroom and God protected us all from getting seriously hurt. Please praise God with us for His protection.
There are several prayer requests here so I will recap:
And we praise God for His protection and provision, again and again.
Serving together with You,
Todd and Julie Hendry
It's June and we're still in Fortaleza. Todd took another trip to Croata this week and this time we feel like we have made some progress in our search for a home. And each time he visits he is making some very good contacts. It's been encouraging.
Housing Situation
We had asked for you to pray for wisdom on whether we should buy a home or rent. Well, the Lord has answered our prayers in that regard, because, even though we haven't made a decision yet, the Lord has opened the doors for us to receive a personal loan from the United States with a very good interest rate.
This last trip interior revealed two houses we had never seen before. One was for sale and is something we could buy and then move into with minimal work to make it live-able for us. The drawback with this home is that it's on the opposite side of town from where we were thinking about being an ideal place for starting a ministry. So we're praying for the Lord's direction in that regard.
The other home is a rental in the part of town we were wanting to live in. Todd and the three others who went on the trip weren't able to see the inside of the home because the owner hadn't received the key yet from the previous renter, but it looked from the outside like a good possibility for rent.
There is one other home that we have seen each trip interior, and it is a rental that is unfinished yet. It also has a serious safety problem with the staircase (building two story homes is a new thing here and not everyone has figured out the best way to build staircases). If we could talk to the owner (who lives in Rio de Janeiro), and find out if he'd be willing to let us buy it for the right price, then perhaps we could fix the problems. Everything else about the house is what we're looking for, except for fixing the bathroom to American standards. But that's to be expected in any home we would live in.
On our previous trip interior, we had found a house that was in the perfect part of town for ministry. This home was facing the city's main square, across the street from the hospital (lots of ministry opportunities there) and very close to the public schools and government buildings. We knew the house had some problems and would need quite a bit of work in order to live in it. That's one reason why Todd asked our co-worker who understands more about Brazilian construction to help us know if it was feasible. But when Ivan saw it, he was very discouraged because it would require a completely new roof including the wood, the walls don't look strong and look water damaged, and so on. So the Lord closed the door on that house.
We will be pursuing more information on the two rentals and then we feel like we should be making a decision very soon. We would really like to be moved into the city by July, but we are depending on the Lord to show us His perfect timing.
Other Prayer Requests
We would also like to ask prayer for selling our car. We were able to buy a pickup truck that will be better for the bad roads interior, but haven't been able to sell the car yet. Please pray for that to happen quickly.
Michaela is in the final stretch with school. With all our interruptions lately we got off schedule, but she should be done in two weeks. She's done with some subjects and only has a little left to do in the others. I retrieved Sammy's kindergarten books and some others arrived with a intern that came down, and I showed his kindergarten books to him. He is so excited to be able to start school that he keeps asking how many days until he can do school in his new books. We're planning to start after our mission team comes to Brazil in August.
That's another prayer request is for our preparations and the preparations of those coming on the mission trip. There are six coming down the beginning of August from Dardenne Presbyterian Church in the St. Louis Area to work on water purification project and children's programs. Two of them are Todd's parents. We are so excited and we would ask for you pray that they will really enjoy their time here.
Another enormous praise has nothing to do with missions, but everything to do with God's protection. Last night Michaela and Sammy friends came over to spend the night--they are a sibling group of three. The kids had been playing in the sandbox and then were told to go upstairs to take showers. I had just finished giving the boys their showers and walked into the other bathroom where the girls were getting in the shower. I was putting their towels on the sink when Johanna, Michaela's friend, closed the glass shower door and the whole thing shattered. Michaela was not in the middle of it, but it shattered all around Johannah who got two cuts requiring stitches in her hand and one in her foot. There was so much glass everywhere and blood, but the Lord spared Johannah and Michaela from anything worse than that. The men cleaned out at least four bucketfuls of glass shards out of the bathroom and God protected us all from getting seriously hurt. Please praise God with us for His protection.
There are several prayer requests here so I will recap:
- Finding a house in God's timing
- Moving in God's timing
- Selling our car
- The missions team coming in August
And we praise God for His protection and provision, again and again.
Serving together with You,
Todd and Julie Hendry
